Towing with a 1983 Range Rover

Joined: 21 May 2008 Location: New York

Looking to tow a rock crawling truck on 49" tyres with my 1983 Range Rover ( LT 95 Gearbox and 3.9 Engine ).

I have not weighted it yet but i would say weight of the truck alone is 6000 lbs ( 2700 Kgs)

I have never towed before so maybe trailer would be around 700 kgs.

Here is a pic the truck that i intend to tow :

How would the range rover handle it ?

We have some uphills to get to off-roading sites as well as down hills on the way back.

Any mods for trailer or rangie that are highly recommended ?

Thanks

Jay

Joined: 29 May 2003 Location: hidin frm da wiminz!!!

Turn the rangie into a rockcrawler! Very Happy

Joined: 30 Mar 2004 Location: Sydney Australia

2700kg truck will need a trailer that weighs 1000kg or more.

This will give 3700kg (min) to tow.

The Rangie will pull it but not too well.

I would upgrade the front discs to ventilated ones as a minimum.

You could have a stripped Rangie rockcrawler that would be around 1000kg lighter than the old Jeep. And much more capable

Joined: 17 Sep 2004 Location: Melbourne

zuffen wrote:

2700kg truck will need a trailer that weighs 1000kg or more.

This will give 3700kg (min) to tow.

The Rangie will pull it but not too well.

I would upgrade the front discs to ventilated ones as a minimum.

You could have a stripped Rangie rockcrawler that would be around 1000kg lighter than the old Jeep. And much more capable

towed a patrol with our 88 a short distance. airbags, or seriously heavy springs are a must in the back as well, no matter how we tryed to centre the weight the back still sagged pretty badly which made steering kinda fun.

Joined: 10 Aug 2005 Location: Karratha

The Rangie will pull it much better if you put Stage 1 Land Rover high ratio in it.
This will take the high range ratio to 1.336 instead of the standard ratios.
Easy to do you dont have to pull the box just change the gears in situ

Joined: 21 May 2008 Location: New York

djam1 wrote:

The Rangie will pull it much better if you put Stage 1 Land Rover high ratio in it.
This will take the high range ratio to 1.336 instead of the standard ratios.
Easy to do you dont have to pull the box just change the gears in situ

Which gears would i have to change ? Would these be off a defender ?

Can the LT 95 take towing stress downhills....Rangie is set up with HD OME Springs and shocks....

Joined: 19 Feb 2003 Location: Perth, WA

jayfrem wrote:

djam1 wrote:

The Rangie will pull it much better if you put Stage 1 Land Rover high ratio in it.
This will take the high range ratio to 1.336 instead of the standard ratios.
Easy to do you dont have to pull the box just change the gears in situ

Which gears would i have to change ? Would these be off a defender ?

Can the LT 95 take towing stress downhills....Rangie is set up with HD OME Springs and shocks....

Djam is talking about changing the high range and intermediate gears in the t-case.

Djam probably didn't notice you are in the US. LT95s were only fitted to early rangies (like you have), and a few other vehicles which never made it to the US (Series 3 Stage 1 V8s, 110s from 1983-1985).

The Stage 1s and early 110s have just come under the 25 year rule, so you may be able to find someone who has imported one and wants to swap gears. If not, Canadia or the UK are the next closest options.

The LT95 should handle it fine, with the possible exception of the intermediate gear bearings/thrust washers. There is a (taper roller) upgrade, but they are hard to find and $$$.

Putting the axles from the jeep in the RRC would be a better option.

Joined: 15 Jan 2004 Location: gold coast

i see you are in the US of A.

i love rangies. but if i lived there, there is no way it would be my tow rig. go pic up a f350 or gmc3500 diesel and have something that will tow and stop with ease, be cheap to buy, cheap to run, cheap to fix and most mechanics will know there way around them.

rangie chassis is strong enough, the gearbox is strong enough. the diffs are marginal, the breaks are ok at best if towing something that weight. and it will be slow.

thats teh truth and i love rangies.

Serg

Joined: 21 May 2008 Location: New York

Actually all this towing will take place in Lebanon where the trucks are....Lots of Rangies have been coming there since the early days.

I will be towing short distances relatively ( 50-70 km) but some uphills.

When going uphills will it need low gear engaged ?

Thanks

Jay